Iowa ‘fetal heartbeat’ abortion law has day in court

Rod Boshart The Gazette Iowa employee unions seek wage increases In 9 Iowa legislative races, fewer than 500 votes decide Iowa GOP leaders: No major corporate tax changes until 2020 Trade concerns only impediment to Iowa’s growth Iowa making progress fixing deficient bridges, DOT says in budget request All articles by Rod DES MOINES — A state law restricting legal abortions based on detection of a fetal heartbeat would deny women’s fundamental rights and should be struck down as unconstitutional, attorneys challenging legislation in Iowa court said Friday. However, proponents of the so-called fetal heartbeat law — passed and signed earlier this year and considered one of the most restrictive abortion statutes in the nation — told a district judge Friday that Senate File 359 meets Iowa’s strict legal standard and an injunction should be lifted that prevented it from taking effect last July 1. Polk County District Judge Michael D. Huppert — who previously accepted a mutually agreed-upon stipulation by attorneys on both sides to issue a temporary stay — said he expected to take up to 60 days to decide whether to grant a summary judgment barring the law as unconstitutional or allowing the matter to go to trial. Regardless how the district judge rules, representatives on the losing side expect the decision will be appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court, and anti-abortion activists hope the ensuing legal battle ultimately could be a way to get the abortion issue before the U.S. Supreme Court, with the goal of… [Read full story]